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Committee approves amendment to clarify leadership for critical-incident response teams, rejects certification mandate
Summary
A House committee accepted an amendment to House Bill 180 that adds a definition of “team leader” for volunteer critical-incident stress management teams and removed language tied to an expensive outside certification requirement raised by team members.
The Executive Departments and Administration Committee on an 11-0 vote approved an amendment to House Bill 180 that adds a statutory definition of “team leader” for critical-incident stress management teams and clarifies training responsibilities for volunteer teams.
The amendment, identified in committee as 0261h, was offered to clarify how team leaders are defined and to address concerns from volunteers about an external certification the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation has tied to its course. Representative Mark Pru, who described himself as affiliated with Granite State Critical Incident Stress Management and representing Hillsborough 15 (Ward 8 in Manchester), told the committee that an outside certification exam costing about $400 created an unnecessary barrier for volunteers. "The amendment is just adding a definition of a team leader, so that people understand what that job is," Representative Pru said. "I don't think this is really necessary to have this certification test at $400."
Nut graf: The change matters to volunteer critical-incident response teams statewide because members often serve without pay and said the additional cost could reduce participation. The amendment keeps training expectations in statute while avoiding a prescriptive, costly certification requirement that volunteers and team leaders said they could not uniformly afford.
Committee members questioned how training and affiliation would work in practice. Representative Leon asked whether a team could be unaffiliated with a municipality; Pru answered the language was cleanup to preserve independent, standing teams. Representative Schmidt and Representative Howard discussed that the bill requires initial training “set forth by the ICISF” but allows team leaders to be responsible for ongoing training, with Pru clarifying that many responders take combined ICISF classes that cover both group and individual crisis response.
After discussion the clerk called the roll on the amendment; the clerk reported the amendment passed. Representative Leon then moved that the bill ought to pass as amended; the motion passed 11-0 and committee members agreed to place the bill on consent for later committee action.
Ending: The committee closed the public hearing on House Bill 180 after no other witnesses asked to speak and entered executive session to vote on the amendment. The committee noted that the amendment seeks to preserve volunteer participation while keeping training expectations clear.
